Kellershon, Reininger, Manwaring lead M/S/G soccer to 1-0 win over Center Moriches
Whether it’s soccer, basketball or lacrosse, the player wearing the No. 23 for the Mattituck girls’ sports teams finds a way to impact games.
That player, Page Kellershon, performed her heroics for the Mattituck/Southold/Greenport soccer team on an unseasonably warm October last Saturday, Oct. 4, in the 1-0 victory over Center Moriches during Southold’s homecoming.
The senior forward’s goal helped M/S/G break a five-game losing streak in the Suffolk County Division III match.
“We definitely needed it,” said Kellershon, who leads MSG (4-7-0, 2-7-0) with six goals. “We’ve been kind of in a rough patch. We’ve had a tough schedule. To come back on top definitely feels great.”
Head coach Chris Golden added: “Any win is vital. We’ll take them any way we can get them because they’ve been far and few for us.”
Kellershon wears 23 as a tribute to her mother, Ellie, who wore the number when she was a lacrosse star at Roanoke College.
“It kind of just carried on,” Kellershon said.
The daughter has excelled in three sports.
Aside from soccer, Kellershon was a valuable defensive specialist on Mattituck’s basketball team that reached the county final this year. She also was named to Newsday’s All-Long Island girls lacrosse second team (58 goals, 31 assists, 89 points) for the county Class D champions. Last year, Kellershon committed to attend the U.S. Naval Academy.
“Page is a rare player, because not only does she have the physical ability and the skill set, but her mind, the discipline that she has and how she goes about doing things, from her homework at night, to doing it on the bus to what she comes to practice, how she stretches, how she just goes about her business,” Golden said. “You just don’t see that discipline in a 16- or 17-year-old kid. When you combine it with everything else, she becomes a player that can play 80 minutes. She can play multiple positions on the field.”
Against Center Moriches, Kellershon scored just before the 20-minute mark. Eighth-grade midfielder Charlotte Reininger fed Kellershon with a lead pass and the 5-foot-6 striker beat goalkeeper Gabriella Cerillo (12 saves) at the near left post from seven yards.
“She was wide open,” Reininger said. “I felt that she could cut in good because she’s really good at that. I felt that there would be a goal.”
She was right.
“I always know that she will send it to the outside,” Kellershon said. “She knows that I’m going to make the run onto it. I was going to cross it, but nobody stepped to me. I thought a shot would be nice. Luckily, it went in.”
That was the 5-foot-2 Reininger’s fifth assist of the season, tying her with 10 others for 15th on the county list.
“Despite her size, her footwork is incredible, probably the best I’ve seen on this team,” said Kellershon, one of three seniors on a young squad. “Not only is she composed under pressure, she can send those balls and pass.”
Reininger admitted she didn’t know if she was going to make the team as a junior high student, but her technical and passing ability was too good to ignore.
“She plays year-round,” Golden said. “So, her soccer IQ is very, very, high. She carries herself very well.”
Reininger comes from an athletic family. Her sister, sophomore midfielder Ida Reininger, qualified for the state track and field championships (100 meters hurdles and 400 hurdles) last spring.
“She’s been encouraging me,” the younger Reininger said. “We do pretty good together, on and off the ball.”
Junior goalkeeper Emily Manwaring made sure the lead stood up, making 15 saves. Through the weekend, Manwaring was third in the county with 108 saves.
“Emily does a nice job,” Golden said. “She keeps us in games.”
Manwaring made two saves in succession during a scramble in the box in the 30th minute. Then, just before the halftime horn sounded, she came way out of the net on Alana Cole’s breakaway and the Center Moriches freshman fired wide right.
“I was thankful for that,” Manwaring said.
It appeared the Red Devils (1-8-1, 1-7-1) would equalize at 64:44 when they were awarded a penalty kick after a handball in the box. Gianna Rotunda, however, fired her attempt wide right of the net.
“I jump up and down sometimes, so it could be my height,” Manwaring said. “If I’m just really locked on them, it might get them a little flustered.”
Photos by Bill Landon
MSG is still mathematically alive to reach the Class A playoffs but needs to win its remaining six games and get some help from other results.
“We’ve got to run the table,” Golden said.
